One by one, I called the ships to take part in the practice before I sent them back to the port. I ended with my own ship.
“Captain, call battle stations,” I said over my shoulder to the officer sitting where I normally sat. Then I looked at my watch and timed the drill. “Not bad, but next time, I want to hear you call battle stations as if you meant it. Show the crew that you’ve got a pair, excuse me, make them think that you’ve got a pair of balls. You got that?”
“Yes Commander,” the female officer replied.
I said, “Good! Do it again.”
She replied, “Yes, Commander. Battle stations.”
I timed the exercise, knowing that my crew was the best and that the watch was unnecessary. Mostly I wanted her to be ready to speak with greater authority and decisiveness.
I said, “That’s better. Turn off the intercom. Now Lieutenant, just for my benefit, I want you to say ‘Battle Stations’ with force. We’re not going to run the crew ragged when all I want now is to hear you say it like you mean it.”
“Battle stations,” she said.
“Again!” I shouted.
She said, “Battle stations.”
“Louder and forceful! Just like I’m talking to you!” I shouted.
“BATTLE STATIONS!” she shouted back at me.
I smiled and said, “Excellent! You almost convinced me that time. That’s the way I want to hear it. You’ll do fine. Now take us back down to the port.”
She said, “Yes sir.”
“What?” I asked.
“YES SIR!” she shouted.
I replied, “Much better. Let me and everyone else know that you always mean what you’re saying. Do that and you’ll do well.”
When we got back to port, I conferred again with the Fleet Admiral to arrange another scramble at night.
Just after one in the morning, the scramble notice went to all the officers and crews. That time, I saw them struggle against sleep and make a decent showing as each ship got into orbit. Then once they were there, I sent them the message to line up in our formation and yelled out over the lightbeam radio, “Charge!”
It was ragged and awful as the ship captains hesitated about sending their ships forward even though it was just a practice.
I radioed, “All ships, have all your pilots gather at the communications system. Notify me when ready.”
After a few more minutes I was notified that all the pilots were gathered. I launched into my second angle of attack on the problem. “Okay pilots, you’re going to have to help out here. I happen to know that your ships were chosen because of the overall piloting skills on board each ship. When the officers hear the command for the charge, you’re going to have to give them the edge that they need. Remember, one of the problems with squadron commands is the interval between receipt of orders and their implementation. You don’t have to wait for your captain to repeat the order, although I want him or her to do so. When you hear my voice over the communications say charge, I mean just exactly that. I want every ship in the line to suddenly jump out at the enemy, as if he were really there in front of us. I want the gunners to be firing at the same time, so communications officers who are listening in, make sure the squadron commands are also piped into your ships where the gunners can hear. Pilots, if you see an opportunity to slip behind an enemy ship without running into another of ours, than I expect you to take that opportunity and give your gunners a field day. If your captain spots something or has a plan of some sort, then take his orders. It is okay to ignore my orders in such situations. You are then taking individual initiative. In a fluid battle situation, that is okay. Let me change that. It is more than okay. It is the right thing to do. You all got that?”
Each ship’s pilots responded that they understood.
“All right, all ships on line. Forward.” The line of warships lined up to one side of my ship. When they looked more or less even, I yelled into the microphone, “Charge!”
That time I was almost pleased when all ten ships suddenly leaped out into space to tear into the pretend enemy in front of us. We practiced over and over for several hours giving every pilot a chance to experience the freedom of being able to jump the gun over receipt of my orders and the captain’s repetition of them.
I didn’t bother taking the ships back to port. I communicated with Headquarters and received clearance to take my patrol out to our sector and left a little early. Along the way, we practiced some maneuvers since we had left port early. Most of the maneuvers were ragged at first, but with practice, the crews of each ship improved.
When we got to the border, there was a lone enemy scout in range. We lined up and I gave the charge command to the ships. It was still ragged, but very effective nonetheless when all ten ships charged at the one scout who started blabbering over his communications to his headquarters. Too late, he tried to escape. He was torn to shreds by the firing weapons from ten ships. I don’t think I ever saw a ship torn into so many pieces as that one scout. Whatever salvage rights might have existed for that ship weren’t worth using because the pieces were so small.
A day later, a large squadron of enemy ships showed up to challenge us as we moved along our patrol area in a file. I gave the command for a turn towards them so that we presented a single line of ships beside each other with our noses pointed at the enemy. Then I yelled charge at the other ships. As we charged, I watched to see how many of the ships responded to what they were supposed to do.
At first, it looked like all ten ships were charging, but the raggedness of our line made it possible for me to count them a moment later. Only nine of my ships were charging at the twenty ships I figured were ahead of us. There wasn’t any time to determine what the tenth ship was doing. We were charging at full speed towards the enemy. Every gunner who could see the enemy was firing whether in range or not.
Aboard my own ship, the new Mark IV quads got hits first long before any of the other weapons had any effect. The Mark IV quads on some of the other ships were also making hits. Our behavior, together with the longer ranging weapons, forcefully changed the enemy’s collective mind about offering battle. They suddenly retreated leaving two disabled ships behind to be completely destroyed by all our weapons when they got into range of all our weapons a few moments later.
When the enemy retreated, I sounded the recall and stopped the charge. Then I looked about for my tenth ship and communicated with it. I said, “Captain Bleyer, you will move your ship next to mine for the rest of this patrol. If your ship fails to charge the next time I give the order, one of my gunners will sizzle your tail for you. I do not appreciate a ship not taking part in the fighting. I have given specific instructions for each ship’s captain to use individual initiative to fight the enemy, not to avoid fighting. There is a difference. You and I shall talk more in private when our patrol is over.”
We patrolled our sector for a week without further opposition or challenge before we returned to our port. When all ten ships were back on the surface of the planet in port, I observed the behavior of all the officers and crews. Nine ships’ crews and officers had caught the enthusiasm for winning that I was trying to impart. They were only disappointed at not being permitted to chase and complete destroy the enemy squadron we met head on. The crew and officers of the tenth ship, that of Captain Bleyer, looked ashamed of their conduct from that one engagement. I called all the ships’ crews and officers together for a debriefing.
I stated, “Most of you did real well. Some of you still need improvement. One individual, however, disappointed me. He and I will talk about this in private. But for the rest of you. I want you to understand that these tactics we are using are nothing new. They’ve merely been forgotten for a long time. You all saw for yourselves that the larger enemy force retreated when they saw our mere nine ships charging at them with everything blazing away. That’s how we will defeat them and end this war. Not one of the enemy tried to challenge us when they saw how purposeful of intention we were. Be aware that our enemy is not dumb or committed to only one way of behavior. He will try to change his tactics in order to win. We will not let him win. He doesn’t know yet of our ability to move independently when the time comes to do so. Turn in your combat videos and enjoy your shore leave. You earned it. Captain Bleyer, if you will accompany me. We have business to discuss. I want your officers and pilots in attendance as well.”